STEAMBOATS, VIADUCTS, AND RAILWAYS 389

CROGLIN, the stately Eden's tributary! *

He raves, or through some moody passage creeps
Plotting new mischief-out again he leaps

Into broad light, and sends, through regions airy,1
That voice which soothed the Nuns while on the steeps
They knelt in prayer, or sang to blissful Mary.2
That union ceased: then, cleaving easy walks
Through crags, and smoothing paths beset with danger,
Came studious Taste; and many a pensive stranger
Dreams on the banks, and to the river talks.
What change shall happen next to Nunnery Dell? 3
Canal, and Viaduct, and Railway, tell! †

5

ΤΙ

XLII

STEAMBOATS, VIADUCTS, AND RAILWAYS

1

MOTIONS and Means, on land and sea 4 at war
With old poetic feeling, not for this,

Shall ye, by Poets even, be judged amiss!
Nor shall your presence, howsoe'er it mar
The loveliness of Nature, prove a bar

1835.

5

Seeking in vain broad light, and regions aery.

MS.

But with that voice which once high on his steeps
Mingled with vespers, sung to blissful Mary-

MS.

* The two streams of the Croglin and the Eden unite in the grounds of Nunnery.-ED.

At Corby, a few miles below Nunnery, the Eden is crossed by a magnificent viaduct; and another of these works is thrown over a deep glen or ravine at a very short distance from the main stream.-W. W. 1835.

Version in The Morning Post.

To the Mind's gaining that prophetic sense
Of future change, that point of vision, whence
May be discovered what in soul ye are.
In spite of all that beauty may disown

In your harsh features, Nature doth embrace
Her lawful offspring in Man's art; and Time,
Pleased with your triumphs o'er his brother Space,
Accepts from your bold hands the proffered crown
Of hope, and smiles on you with cheer sublime.*

XLIII

THE MONUMENT COMMONLY CALLED LONG MEG AND HER DAUCHTERS, NEAR THE RIVER EDEN †

Composed, probably, in 1821.--Published 1822

A WEIGHT of awe, not easy to be borne,

Fell suddenly upon my Spirit-cast

From the dread bosom of the unknown past,

When first I saw that family forlorn.1

Speak Thou, whose massy strength and stature scorn

2

The power of years-pre-eminent, and placed

6

Apart, to overlook the circle vast

Speak, Giant-mother! tell it to the Morn

*

Compare the Sonnet On the projected Kendal and Windermere Railway, written in 1844.-ED.

It first appeared in A Description of the Scenery of the Lakes in the North of England, third edition, 1822.-ED.

LOWTHER

While she dispels the cumbrous shades of Night;
Let the Moon hear, emerging from a cloud;
At whose behest uprose on British ground
That Sisterhood, in hieroglyphic round

Forth-shadowing, some have deemed, the infinite
The inviolable God, that tames the proud! *1

391

ΙΟ

XLIV

LOWTHER 2

[“Cathedral pomp.” It may be questioned whether this union was in the contemplation of the artist when he planned the edifice. However this might be, a poet may be excused for taking the view of the subject presented in this Sonnet.— I. F.]

1 1837.

When, how, and wherefore, rose on British ground
That wondrous Monument, whose mystic round
Forth shadows, some have deemed, to mortal sight
The inviolable God that tames the proud!

2 There was no title in the edition of 1835.

1822.

* The daughters of Long Meg, placed in a perfect circle eighty yards in diameter, are seventy-two in number above ground; a little way out of the circle stands Long Meg herself, a single stone, eighteen feet high. When I first saw this monument, as I came upon it by surprise, I might over-rate its importance as an object; but, though it will not bear a comparison with Stonehenge, I must say, I have not seen any other relique of those dark ages, which can pretend to rival it in singularity and dignity of appearance. -W. W. 1837.

The text of this note, in the edition of 1822, is slightly different.-ED. In a letter to Sir George Beaumont, January 6, 1821, Wordsworth wrote, "My road brought me suddenly and unexpectedly upon that ancient monument, called by the country people Long Meg and her Daughters. Everybody has heard of it, and so had I from very early childhood; but had never seen it before. Next to Stonehenge it is beyond dispute the most noble relic of the kind that this or probably any other country contains. Long Meg is a single block of unhewn stone, eighteen feet high, at a small distance from a vast circle of other stones, some of them of huge size, though curtailed of their stature, by their own incessant pressure upon it.' Compare a note in Wordsworth's Guide to the Scenery of the Lakes, section 2.-ED.

1

LOWTHER! in thy majestic Pile are seen
Cathedral pomp and grace, in apt accord 2
With the baronial castle's sterner mien ;*
Union significant of God adored,
And charters won and guarded by the sword
Of ancient honour; whence that goodly state
Of polity which wise men venerate,†

3

And will maintain, if God his help afford.
Hourly the democratic torrent swells; 3
For airy promises and hopes suborned

5

ΙΟ

The strength of backward-looking thoughts is scorned. Fall if ye must, ye Towers and Pinnacles,

With what ye symbolise; authentic Story

Will say, Ye disappeared with England's Glory!

XLV

TO THE EARL OF LONSDALE

Magistratus indicat virum."

LONSDALE! it were unworthy of a Guest,

Whose heart with gratitude to thee inclines,
If he should speak, by fancy touched, of signs
On thy Abode harmoniously imprest,

Yet be unmoved with wishes to attest

5

But high the democratic torrent swells.

*The present Castle was begun in 1808. It is in the style of the 13th and 14th century structures. The arched corridors surrounding the staircase -which is sixty feet square and ninety feet high-may justify the description in the sonnet. These stone corridors open on each side, through the centre of the castle. Compare the reference to Lowther in Barron's Travels in China, p. 134, in the course of his description of "Gehol's matchless gardens," referred to in The Prelude, book viii. (vol. iii. p. 274.)-Ed.

The Lowther family have been, for generations, the representatives of the Conservative cause in Cumberland.-ED.

THE SOMNAMBULIS.T

How in thy mind and moral frame agree
Fortitude, and that Christian Charity

Which, filling, consecrates the human breast.
And if the Motto on thy 'scutcheon teach

393

With truth, "THE MAGISTRACY SHOWS THE MAN;" That searching test thy public course has stood; 1

As will be owned alike by bad and good,

Soon as the measuring of life's little span
Shall place thy virtues out of Envy's reach.*

II

XLVI

THE SOMNAMBULIST †

[This poem might be dedicated to my friends, Sir G. Beaumont and Mr. Rogers jointly. While we were making an

1 1835.

Lonsdale! it were unworthy of a Guest,

One chiefly well aware how much he owes
To thy regard, to speak in verse or prose
Of types and signs harmoniously imprest
On thy Abode, neglecting to attest

That in thy Mansion's Lord as well agree
Meekness and strength and Christian charity,
That filling, consecrates the human breast.

And if, as thy armorial bearings teach,

"

'The Magistracy indicates the Man,"

That test thy life triumphantly has stood;

MS.

* This sonnet was written immediately after certain trials, which took place at the Cumberland Assizes, when the Earl of Lonsdale, in consequence of repeated and long-continued attacks upon his character, through the local press, had thought it right to prosecute the conductors and proprietors of three several journals. A verdict of libel was given in one case; and, in the others, the prosecutions were withdrawn, upon the individuals retracting and disavowing the charges, expressing regret that they had been made, and promising to abstain from the like in future.-W. W. 1835. The original title of the Poem (in MS.) was

Aira Force,

or

Sir Eglamore and Elva.

There were no changes of text in the published editions of this poem. The various readings given are from MS. copies of the poem, in Mrs. Wordsworth's handwriting.-Ed.